Black-chinned Hummingbird - - (Archilochus alexandri)

Wildlife Note Card Photography by Steven Holt

Living west of the Mississippi in dry habitats, Black-chinned Hummingbirds feed on nectar and insects. This female black-chin is feeding on a desert ocotillo's flower spike. Because females lack the male's dramatic black over purple chin gorget, they are virtually indistinguishable from female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and can be misidentified in Texas, the only state in the United States where the two species normally overlap. Defined by superlatives, hummers are the most aerobically active birds in existence; the flight muscles in the breast weigh 30% of body weight and the heart weighs another 25%. In hovering flight the wing tip moves in a horizontal figure eight between 30 and 80 times per second with both the forward and backward stroke of the wing providing lift. Flower nectar is a quick energy food, but it is dilute, so hummingbirds must drink and cycle through an amount equal to 80% of their body water daily. Can you imagine drinking over 20 gallons of water every day? Cheers!

Special thanks to Keith Iding for scanning the cards.